JAMESTOWN, ND – Two late rallies would fall short for the University of Mary softball team as the Marauders lost two hard-fought games 2-1, 7-5 in a doubleheader against Southwest Minnesota State University.

GAME 1 |SMSU – 2, UMary - 1
Arria Johnson and Nicole Eckhardt pitched excellent in game one for UMary (7-21, 0-6 Northern Sun). Johnson pitched the first five innings of the game scoreless, surrendering only two hits and one walk. Johnson ran into trouble in the top of the sixth inning when the first two Mustangs reached base via a single.

Nicole Eckhardt came on in relief in the sixth inning and got three of the first four batters out, but not before surrendering the two runs to the runners she inherited. Eckhardt pitched a scoreless seventh inning as UMary trailed SMSU (13-18, 4-4 NSIC) 2-0 going into the bottom of the seventh.

The Marauders put the pressure on the Mustangs quickly as a single by Francesca Villaneda scored Jaraya Diaz to make it a 2-1 ballgame. A double by Janelle Bergmann saw runners on second and third with two outs. Sariah Perez came up to bat and hit a laser to center field that was tracked down and caught by the SMSU center fielder to end the game.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Jaraya Diaz went 1-for-3 with one run scored

Francesca Villaneda went 1-for-3 with one RBI

Janelle Bergmann went 1-for-1 with one double

Jenel Mallari went 1-for-3

GAME 2 |SMSU – 7, UMary - 5
The second inning saw SMSU open the game up, scoring five runs to take a commanding lead. The Mustangs extended their lead to 6-0 in the top of the fifth inning by adding one run.

UMary made it a 6-1 score in the bottom of the fifth inning when Mckenzie Reinhardt singled up the middle to score Kelsey Mischel. SMSU added an insurance run in the top of the seventh to take a 7-1 lead.

The Marauders started a late two-out rally in the bottom of the seventh when Jenel Mallari singled to left field, scoring Mischel. Mallari and Mckenzie Reinhardt came home to score when Janelle Bergmann reached second on an error made by the SMSU centerfielder. Emily Schommer made it a 7-5 ballgame when she smashed a ground-rule double to left center, bringing home Bergmann.

Sariah Perez kept the line moving by singling to third, putting runners on the corners with two outs. Emari Evans came up to the plate and hit a hard line drive to center field that was caught to end the game.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Mckenzie Reinhardt went 3-for-3 with one RBI, one run scored and one walk

Jenel Mallari went 1-for-3 with one RBI, one run scored and one walk

Emily Schommer went 2-for-4 with one RBI

Kelsey Mischel went 1-for-2 with two runs scored and one walk

Sariah Perez went 2-for-4

UP NEXT
UMary travels to Minot, ND, to challenge in-state rivals Minot State University in a doubleheader on Tuesday, April 2, with the first pitch set for 4 pm.

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